Prophetic Ministry
Rightly Related To The Body Of Christ,
2nd Edition

Opening Note From Teresa

This teaching series was team written in the Spring of 2000 by Jim and Carolyn Wies. As you read this series, you will probably be stricken with how well (effectively) these two appear to work together as a team. Jim and Carolyn served as co-pastors for years, and also ministered as a husband and wife team at many conferences, seminars and prophetic events in the USA and abroad. Both of them have been personal friends of mine for a long time and Jim was my mentor for several years.

I feel that what they had to share 10 years ago is still very relevant today. In fact, I feel that what they had to share is so important that it needs to be repeated again on our online prophetic school, and that is why I am releasing it again as a second edition.

Sadly, there has been an unfortunately development since this teaching was originally written. It is not uncommon for the enemy to attack and try to destroy effective ministry teams, and he did so with Jim and Carolyn's marriage. I'm not going to share the details of how or why their marriage failed, but I feel it is important for you to know up front that Jim and Carolyn are no longer together as a couple. In fact, both of them are remarried.

I don't personally advocate divorce, but the sad fact is that it does happen--sometimes even to very godly people. I hope this development won't impact your opinion of Jim and Carolyn's credibility, because the material they teach here is very relevant and the principles they share here are very powerful and helpful.

Personal Prophecy

Prophecy! Personal Prophecy! So much has been written on this subject since the mid-eighties, but just what is it? Simply put, prophecy is God talking. In my journey to understand prophecy the Lord gave me (Carolyn) an insight that satisfied me. The Old Testament and much of the New Testament is a collection of personal prophecies spoken to man by God or spoken to men for other men (the ministry of prophecy one to another). For example:

"... and the Lord spoke to Adam and said..."
"... the Word of the Lord came to Noah and said ...."
"... the Word of the Lord came to Abraham saying ...."
"... the Word of the Lord came to Samuel and said ...."
"... the Word of the Lord came to Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Nahum
... for the people of a nation or a region saying...."
Etc.!

You get the point.

I (Carolyn) would, at this point, like to settle from the onset that it is our personal belief that the written, canonized Scripture (the Bible) is to be the first and ultimate authority on God's speaking to man. All personal prophecy should be measured and weighed according to the truth, principles, and teachings of Scripture. However, the Lord is so much greater than any of us could imagine and has much more to say to us today than we can even imagine. We also understand that many negative things and even destructive things have happened in the name of the Lord through prophecy. And for that I share concern, (more about that in lesson three). But just as one doesn't refuse to use electricity because some were killed by it's wrong or negligible use, neither do we wish to abandon the gifts of the Holy Spirit (especially the gift of prophecy) due to the abuses and misuses of the minority. And minority it is. All over the world, men and women, boys and girls are being raised up by the Lord into the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They are being raised up to do what the New Testament says they will.

And when the unbelieving enter, they will have their hearts exposed and fall down declaring that surely God is among you. (1 Corinthians 14:24,25)

This is in direct fulfillment of Scripture:

And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your young men shall see visions. Your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy. (Acts 2:17-18)

We, (Jim and Carolyn) invite you to join us in this series to share things we have encountered, learned, proven, grown in, failed at, and love about the wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit--the gift of prophecy. I (Carolyn) write as one who began as a young believer in the use of the prophetic gifts under the authority of local church government (pastors and teachers). I write as one who the Lord has blessed to be under the training, accountability and mentoring of Apostolic Prophet Bill Hamon and the team of Christian International--Network of Prophetic Ministries. And I write as one currently co-pastoring a prophetic church with my husband (Jim) and traveling to churches throughout the U.S. and abroad, strengthening churches and individuals alike with encouragement through one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit--the gift of prophecy.

This is our attempt to be a practical help to normal and sincere believers, like ourselves, who find themselves blessed with this gift of prophecy. We to share some of the things we have learned over the years. We trust it will also provide encouragement to lay people and pastors alike that the 'prophetic ministry' is a vital, wonderful and necessary gift Jesus gave to the church. Prophecy is God's gift to edify, exhort, comfort and guide people ever continually toward the Lord and a deeper relationship with Him. Along with this wonderful and necessary gift comes certain responsibilities and boundaries.

We hope to share some things that will help many in their own journeys to execute their grace giftings and Holy Spirit offices within these boundaries and responsibilities. Some of our personal history will be woven into this series. We will share our experiences of the grace of God and the prophetic ministry. We desire that you be encouraged to exercise this gift with dignity, purity, the fear of the Lord, and sincerity of faith in Jesus' name.

God loves talking to those who love Him and who are seeking His will, direction and thoughts. Many times we receive communication from the Lord and we say: "I was praying this morning and the Lord 'showed me', or 'said to me', or 'revealed to me' thus and such." That, in its most basic form, is prophecy (God talking). Taking it a step further, prophecy can take the form of another person 'hearing' a Word from the Lord and feeling impressed that he or she should 'share' that Word with that individual.

There are many Biblical accounts of the Lord speaking to one prophet or servant and telling them to go to another to deliver to them a "message" from Him. We should not put everything that we share with someone into the category of personal prophecy. But we must understand that the Lord still speaks today. He still uses prophecy as one means of communicating with us. So many of life's decisions depend on knowing what to do. The Lord can and many times does use prophets and prophetic people to be able to 'hear' wisdom from heaven to help, assist or plainly tell or confirm to someone what God's plan is for a specific situation. It's hard to find a Scripture to tell us if we should buy 'this' house or move to that 'city' or things like this, and the Lord wants to tell us what to do. We each should seek to develop our own relationships with the Lord in prayer and waiting on Him for His word and will to be revealed. But sometimes there needs to be another confirmation. And when a 'prophetic word' comes and when no one knew we were asking God about something, it gives great confidence that we did indeed hear from the Lord. And that 'word' even provides the confidence to step out and obey the Lord.